checkyeti buys France's Manawa to build Europe's biggest outdoor marketplace
What's the deal? Vienna-based outdoor booking platform checkyeti has acquired French competitor ManawaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — specifically its operating company, Paris-based AlentourDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → SAS. The companies did not disclose the purchase price.
What's the endgame? The two say the merger creates Europe's largest specialised marketplace for outdoor and nature experiences. Together they list more than 27,000 bookable activities from over 8,000 providers across Europe.
checkyeti, founded in Vienna in 2014, offers roughly 16,000 experiences from about 5,000 providers, with a strong hold on skiing, hiking, and other Alpine activities. Manawa adds around 11,000 activities from some 3,500 providers, with a particularly strong foothold in France.
What changes? Not much for now. Alentour SAS becomes a standalone company within the checkyeti Group, Manawa keeps its own brand, and CEO Timothée de Roux stays on. Both portals will initially continue to operate separately.
Who's backing it? The deal is supported by Banque des TerritoiresDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, part of French state holding company Caisse des DépôtsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an early Manawa shareholder that remains invested in the combined company.
Why now? checkyeti CEO Jakob Keller frames the consolidation of a fragmented, under-digitised market as a logical step — driven partly by how artificial intelligence is changing the way travellers discover and book experiences.
Keller told industry outlet Arival that exclusive supply is a key advantage: many providers list only on these platforms, not with larger players such as Viator or GetYourGuideDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The booking complexity of ski tours — height, weight, equipment rental — is one reason specialisation should hold up as a differentiator, he said.
The signal: The merger is also pitched as a European play against global rivals. De Roux foregrounded "digital sovereignty," while co-founder and COO Georg Reich pointed to plans for heavier investment in digital distribution, AI-powered customer acquisition, and automation.
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